First PKB 

First Muay Thai IKF/PKB on 3/5/2022 in San Ysidro. Did great first round but completely gassed out after that! Ended up being a draw.
I’m writing this almost 10 months after this fight. I just had my second PKB and here are some tips/facts I’d love to share:
1. Your opponent WILL hit you hard. There is a “strict” no knock-out rule. However, I’ve seen a couple of people fracture their ribs, broken noses, concussions, fractured feet and knockouts. In this level of fighting, you’ll see fighters not know how to control their power well and some sloppy technique. So accidents do happen.
2. It goes by fast. There will be many fights throughout the 3-5 hours, so there will be no time to waste. There will be no formal introduction or warm up time. You just check-in and then fight. You’ll need to do your warm up routine off to the side of the mats.
3. You won’t know who you’re fighting until 1 or 2 hours before fights start. And your opponent could change up until you step onto the mat.
4. The referees do a good job of protecting you if the fight is lop-sided. They give you warnings to bring the power down if one fighter is going too hard. If a fighter wins the first two rounds then they will end the fight and not have the third round.
5. They try to match you up with someone with similar experience and weight. But Sometimes that doesn’t happen. You could fight someone 10lbs heavier or someone that has 1 or 2 fights already.
Hope this helps anyone who is nervous about their first PKB. You can train in your gym all you want but you won’t know what you’re made of until you put on them gloves and step on the mat to compete. Great place to start is at a PKB. You could be the next Rodtang, Haggerty or Saenchi!